1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mass transit system and more particularly to a system of transporting vehicles by the continuous forward movement of water in an endless waterway.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern mass transit systems are well known in the art and are characterized by the automatic or attended operation of vehicles either singly or in multiple vehicle trains on an exclusive roadway in the form of a continuous loop having stations for passenger boarding and departure located at selected points in the loop. The roadway may comprise either single or double track sections elevated or located at grade. The track sections may be supported by steel guide beams on concrete slabs for steering the vehicle on the roadway. The vehicles or multi-vehicle trains may be propelled by power rails or inductive wires feeding electric current to the electric motors of the vehicles. The transit system generally includes a guidance system which serves to maintain stability of the vehicles as they move from station to station on the exclusive roadway in the continuous loop.
Fully automated transit systems such as the rapid transit system built by the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District and the Experimental Transit Expressway erected by Westinghouse Company in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, operate vehicles singly or in multiple-vehicle trains at preselected intervals unidirectionally over an exclusive roadway. The rubber tired vehicles ride on concrete track slabs and are steered through vehicle guidance systems that follow a steel guide beam centered down the track of the roadway. Vehicle current collectors pick up power from energized rails located adjacent the track slab. Intelligence is conveyed to and from the vehicles via conductor wire laid along the inside of the track slab. Thus with this arrangment the operation of the entire system is monitored and controlled remotely from a control center through electrical equipment located at the respective stations along the roadway and aboard the vehicles. A builtin system of checks and interlocks operates to continuously monitor the system operation to detect malfunctions or failures in equipment. In the event of a malfunction or failure in equipment all the vehicles are brought to a halt by an emergency stop procedure. Nevertheless, in the event a vehicle becomes disabled on the roadway it is necessary to place operators on board to recover the vehicle.
Rapid transit systems that utilize the conveyance of vehicles in a waterway by the continuous movement of water therethrough is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,404,635; 3,807,806, and 3,854,415. The systems generally comprise an endless waterway in which a plurality of floating vessels are guided and propelled by the forward movement of water in the waterway. Suitable lifting conveyors transport the vehicles up inclines portions of the waterway.
The waterway disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,806 utilizes stopper boards that are hingedly connected to the floor of the waterway to effect stopping of the vehicles in the waterway. Nozzles discharge fluid directed at the stopper boards and lift them into vertical position to stop the boat. Electromagnetic valves control supply fluid to the nozzles.
There is need for the mass transportation of passengers by vehicles that operate over an exclusive roadway in the form of a continuous loop. While it has been suggested to provide elaborate fully automated mass transit systems, the safeguards required for such a system render the system commercially unfeasible. Thus a mass transit system is needed that satisfies the problems presented by modern urban-suburban commutation in a safe and efficient manner but economically feasible.